Avocado Production in Indonesia - Sri Setyati Harjadi*

* Professor, Bogor Agriculture University, Bogor, Indonesia.

The avocado has been spread throughout the Indonesian archipelago since the seventeenth century when it was brought into the country by Spanish merchants. However, its cultivation is seen to be restricted to the mountainous regions, where some tourist resorts are found. Unlike other tropical fruits the avocado is not juicy and sweet and, therefore, is not easy to make the fruit popular among local consumers.

The fruit received wider attention in 1997, when a home garden campaign was launched to highlight its nutritional value. However, its popularity started to increase after the inauguration of 'Es teller 77' food stalls in several big cities by an enterprising entrepreneur. In these food stalls, avocado is prepared together with jackfruit as a fruit cocktail. Good quality avocado is needed for this purpose. Another mode of preparation is a milkshake (which is called avocado juice), where inferior quality fruit can be used, since milk and sugar can be added and blended. Better economic development in the country and rising incomes of the population have given a further impetus to its popularity. Lately, consumption has been increasing further by the popularization of its use as a stomachache medicine as well as due to its high content of the beneficial component of cholesterol.

2. PRESENT SITUATION OF AVOCADO CULTIVATION

Total production in Indonesia is estimated to be 71,001 tonnes from Java (1994) and 46,471 tonnes from the outer islands (1996). It can be seen from Table 1 that the major producing areas in Java island are West Java followed by East Java. The production season is more or less continuous throughout the year, but the peak is October to March. The production areas in West Java are the district Garut (18,285 tonnes), Sukabumi (5,633 tonnes) and Cianjur (4,567 tonnes). In Garut, the season is distributed rather evenly, with production in the four quarters of the year being 3,537, 3,770, 4,123 and 6,856 tonnes respectively, while in Sukabumi the peak season is in the last quarter of the year with a production of 5,138 tonnes. Production in East Java is confined to Ponorogo district (5,405 tonnes), Lumajang (4,500 tonnes) and Sidoarjo (3,630 tonnes). The peak season is mostly in the second half of the year, with the exception of Lumajang which also has a harvest in the first quarter of the year. The main growing district in Central Java is Semarang with a total production of 2,994 tonnes. From the outer islands (Table 2), the major producing provinces are West Sumatra, Jambi, South East Nusa and South Sulawesi with production of 4,615, 3,193, 17,202 and 5,666 tonnes respectively.

Table 1. Estimated Production in Java in 1992 and 1994 (tonnes)

1992	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Total
Jakarta	39	26	20	7	92
West Java	10,757	7,135	6,288	14,033	38,213
Central Java	2,459	368	108	2,191	5,126
Yogyakarta	222	91	37	201	551
East Java	4,865	421	10,966	3,581	19,833
Java Total	18,342	8,041	17,419	20,013	63,815
1994
Jakarta	20	55	4	24	103
West Java	13,659	6,757	10,607	12,952	43,975
Central Java	1,219	307	346	2,017	3,889
Yogyakarta	258	161	58	235	712
East Java	9,139	3,567	1,215	8,401	22,322
Java Total	24,295	10,847	12,230	23,629	71,001

Table 2. Production in Outer Islands in the Year 1996 (tonnes)

1996	1st quarter	2nd quarter	3rd quarter	4th quarter	Total
Sumatra	5,980	3,609	3,161	4,995	17,745
Bali & S. Nusa tenggara	9,958	3,704	2,141	3,872	19,675
Kalimantan	129	101	63	81	374
Sulawesi	3,228	1,442	1,239	2,324	8,233
Maluku & Irian	160	105	95	84	444
Total	19,455	8,961	6,699	11,356	46,471

The area under cultivation is not reported, since there are no avocado orchards of any substantial size. The trees are grown mostly in home gardens, without any specific spacing, and often mixed with other fruit trees. Statistics have been computed from the number of harvested trees.

The varieties grown in Indonesia are of two types, which are supposed to have been derived from the West Indian race which has a bigger fruit size. On the other hand, the smaller types have been derived from the Mexican race and its natural hybrids. In general, people differentiate the avocado into two big groups; the butter type (or mentega), the fruits of which are rich in nutrient constituents and have high content of fat and vitamin A, and the milk type (or susu) which has rather thin flesh and low fat content. There are also the 'Ijo panjang' and 'Ijo bundar' types which are long and round, green in skin color with relatively small seeds. From these types there are the 'Tawangmangu', 'Batu' and 'Lembang' varieties. There is also the 'Gontor' type, the fruits of which are medium-sized, round, purple, having rather rough skin.

3. PRODUCTION OF PLANTING MATERIAL

The propagation of avocado is mainly carried out by seed while the use of grafted plants is very limited. This is probably due to the short juvenility of the seedlings, or the preference for taller and bigger trees since they are not grown in monoculture orchards, but mainly in mixed gardens. An important character to be noted is that the seeds from the mentega type exhibit the phenomenon of polyembyony during germination. Not many specialized private nurseries are found in Indonesia, especially for production of avocado seedlings. Previously, the Horticulture Research Station had some germplasm collections in Cipanas, but after research priorities changed in favour of short duration crops that could yield quick results, those collections were abandoned.

4. CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF AVOCADO TREES

For the popularization of the concept of 'Home Garden Intensification for Family Nutrition', avocado seedlings are among a number of fruit seedlings to be distributed to farmers to be planted along fences. No special attention is paid after planting nor throughout the lifetime of avocado trees.

Some people believe that if their trees are attacked by caterpillar, they will fruit better than healthy trees. That is why no efforts are made to control the pest. This is also probably due to inter-mixing culture of avocado trees with other fruit trees, so the pest attacks are sporadic. Besides that, protecting the trees through chemical spraying in a home garden is not feasible. However, population explosion of the pest seldom occurs, and elimination is progressively accomplished through nonchemical spraying practices.

In general, no serious pests and diseases are found in avocado trees. Occasionally, a good healthy tree dies suddenly from an attack of root rot caused by Phytophthora cinnamoni. Usually, this occurs in areas where cinnamon grows nearby.

5. HARVESTING OF FRUITS AND YIELDS

The harvesting is achieved manually by a picker climbing the tree and taking a basket or jute bag. The fruits are picked selectively by hired laborers or the owner. Only the mature fruits, which show dull appearance, are picked. Some pickers use to shake the fruits to see whether the seeds are not clinging any more, looking for a sign of maturity. The quality of the fruits is determined by the maturity of the fruit. The mature fruits contain more fat and vitamin A.

Sometimes harvesting is carried out by the buyers. When the picking is conducted by the buyers, usually they pick all fruits in the tree whether mature or not. In such cases, the quality of the fruit is poor. However, in the off-season, low quality can be compensated by high price. In general, yields are considered to be good. However, higher yields can be obtained provided appropriate cultural practices are applied by the growers.

6. MARKETING

Simple marketing channels operate from the growing areas to the consumer markets in big cities. The total production can still be absorbed by the domestic market. The retail price is slowly increasing and no fluctuations are seen between seasons. No high volumes are exported, and so is the situation with regard to imports (Table 3).

Table 3. Export and Import of Avocado

			1994	1995	1996	1997
A. Export
	Avocado
		Volume (kg)	1,112	3,210	5,087	1,968
		Value (US$)	1,482	3,999	5,264	359
	All fruits
		Volume (tonnes)	40,894	68,923	122,851	83,344
		Value (US$ 1,000)	11,068	16,053	32,019	21,883
B. Import
	Avocado
		Volume (kg)	15,495	18,241	14,484	8,758
		Value (US$)	20,543	24,164	33,063	20,509
	All fruits
		Volume (tonnes)	83,791	122,907	139,895	188,495
		Value (US$ 1,000)	66,604	89,898	100,269	100,897

7. POTENTIAL FOR AVOCADO PRODUCTION DEVELOPMENT

The recent increases in production were due to commercial activity for increasing consumption with no government intervention. Any assistance from the government can accelerate the production increases. The produce can be used to improve the diet of the people (the poor as well as the rich). The crop has a wide ecological adaptation and can also be used in reforestation programmes. Good germplasm is already available in the country. Selection, multiplication and distribution of good-quality planting material could be accomplished easily.

8. CONSTRAINTS

The limited knowledge of the farmers in avocado tree husbandry can shorten the lifespan of the trees. Also, the lack of knowledge on post-harvest technology can limit the optimum use of this cheap nutritious food. To make frozen product for baby food or just distribution to the mothercare programmes training and education are needed.

There is a paucity of information and knowledge on the nutrient composition of this fruit. In addition, the role on energy contribution is not recognized by some nutrition specialists. In a 100-gram edible portion 5.8 - 23 grams of fat are found (partly nonsaturated fat that has anticholesterol properties), 75 to 135 international units of vitamin A and 600 to 800 kilojoules of energy.

9. GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PLANS FOR AVOCADO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The Government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Agriculture, plans to make the country self-reliant in horticulture production by the year 2003. It is hoped that avocado would obtain priority instead of crops like mango and others. This is supported by the fact that the avocado has better food and nutrition value for children under five and lactating mothers.

10. CONCLUSIONS

Indonesia has good potential for avocado production development. By using the traditional home garden as the basic production unit, good progress has been achieved already. Good germplasm already exists in the country and a host of natural hybrids give the breeder the opportunity to select promising material for every agro-ecological region of the country. Selection, multiplication and, finally, distribution of good-quality plants to the farmers need to be done systematically. The education on nutritional attributes of the fruit and the improvement of horticulture practices should be priority areas for development, especially popularizing the production technologies to nontraditional areas in the outer islands of the country.

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